Gliders



Dec. 24, 1957 l. H. .JOHNSON 2,817,185

GLIDERS Filed oct. 26, 1955 IEZLEC mi @MVZ l @agb- United States Patent O GLIDERS Irving H. Johnson, Iron Mountain, Mich., assignor to ,Adolph A. Abraham, Lexington, Ky.

Application October 26, 1955, Serial No. 542,940

1 Claim. (Cl. 46-79) This invention relates to lgliders and more particularly to that type vof glider which is launched into the air as a kite and then released to .glide freely =to earth.

The primary object `of my invention is to .construct a glider which may be easily launched into the air as a kite and then may be quickly -and easily released to permit it to glide freely to earth.

Another .object of the invention is vto provide a glider so constructed that it may be flown and launched into the air as a kite, with the lower portion of its body structure serving as a launching means for the upper portion thereof, ,said free .flying upper portion ofthe glider being detachable from .the launching means by a single motion of the operator and when desired by the operator.

A further object of the invention is to provide a glider in which the weight of the lower launching portion tends to maintain stability of the glider while it is being launched into the air as a kite, and which weighted portion is detached from the free llying upper portion so as to give said upper portion the best possible free llight characteristics.

A further object of the invention is to provide a glider in which the lower launching portion is so constructed that the air ilow over said portion assists in maintaining the stability of the glider assembly while it is being llown as a kite.

A further 'object of the invention is to provide a glider assembly in which a glider of generally standard construction is releasably attached to a launching stick, the assembly being launched into the air as a kite by means of a tow rope, the glider being held in attachment to the launching stick as long as tension is maintained in the tow rope and automatically released from the launching stick when said tension is released.

With the above and other Iobjects in view, as will be presently apparent, the invention consists in general of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and particularly claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, like characters of reference indicate like parts in the several views, and:

Fig. l is a front elevation of the glider being launched as a kite.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view yof the glider being launched as a kite.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2, showing a standard kite tail attached as an aid to stability.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary side elevational view showing the means of connecting the front ends of the glider and the launching stick.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary side elevational View, partly in section, showing the means for detachably connecting the empennage of the glider with the trailing end of the launching stick.

In the form of the invention disclosed herein, the upper, free-flying portion of the glider assembly follows,

for the most part, the standard and well known form of glider construction.

Adjustably attached to an elongated fuselage 6 of generallyrectangular cross-section is a wing 7, shown in the -drawings as vof one-piece construction. The wing 7 is given a slight dihedral for flying stability as shown in Figs. l and 3, and is cambered for better lift. On the trailing edge of the wing structure are provided aileron tabs 8 which may be kset at various positions to control the flight characteristics of the glider. For attaching the wing 7 to the fuselage 6 is ,provided a clamping strip 9 which is slightly longer than the wing section and which is secured 'by any desired means to the underside of the wing and at the midpoint of and at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the wing. The ends of the clamping strip 9 are secured to the fuselage 6 by elastic bands 10, or other suitable securing means. The trailing or inner end of the fuselage 6 is bifurcated to provide a transverse slot 11 in which is positioned a horizontal stabilizer 12. The trailing end `of the fuselage 6 is also grooved on a portion of its upper face to receive the lower end of a vertical stabilizer 13. A rudder tab 14 is secured Vto the stabilizer 13 and may b e adjusted to aid in controlling the flight characteristics ofthe glider during free flight. An elastic band 15 or other securing -means encloses the rear free ends of the furcations for retaining the horizontal stabilizer in'said slot 11.

At the leading'end'of the fuselage 6 is a wire clip 16, which represents an important part of this invention, and one end of which has a straight leg 17 cemented or otherwise secured to the fuselage 6 at the upper side thereof and the other end of which is bent to form an eyeg 18 positioned below said fuselage, the plane of the eye being at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the fuselage 6. A similar wire clip 19, positioned at the opposite end of the fuselage 6, has a straight leg 20 which is secured to the fuselage 6 on its under face and the rear end of said clip is bent downwardly to form an eye 21, the plane of which is at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the fuselage 6.

The lower or launching porti-on of the glider assembly is formed of an elongated launching stick 22, which is slightly shorter than the fuselage 6, the inner or trailing end of said stick being of substantially rectangular crosssection, while the outer or leading end is flattened and enlarged downwardly in a vertical plane as at 23 and is substantially wedge shaped in cross-section.

For securing the leading end of the launching stick 22 to the fuselage 6 there is provided a wire pin 24 which is secured to the upper edge of the flattened leading end 23. The wire pin 24 is of such length as to extend beyond the flattened leading end 23 and through the eye 18, fitting loosely therein. At the inner end of the launching stick 22 is secured a U-shaped wire, the leg 25 of which is secured to the upper side of the launching stick 22 while the other leg 25a thereof is loosely received in the eye 21 of the rear clip 19. The lengths of the pins are so proportioned that when the launching stick 22 is moved rearwardly with relation to the fuselage 6 when the glider is released for free flight, the pins 24 and 25 simultaneously are disengaged from the corresponding eyes 18 and 21.

To the under side of the launching stick 22 are attached the cords 26 and 27 of a launching bridle, the lower ends of the cords joining a tow cord 28 and the cord 26 being shorter than the cord 27 so that the front end of the glider assembly will be inclined upwardly. If desired, a standard kite tail 29 may be attached to the U-shaped hook 25 to increase the stability of the glider assembly when it is being launched as a kite.

The operation of the glider assembly is as follows:

The relative lengths of the bridle cordsi26 and 27 are' `their respective eyes 18 and 21 of the fuselage 6. When the desired altitude is reached by the glider assembly, tension is relaxed in the towing cord 28 and the weight of the launching stick 22 instantly causes the pins 24 and 25 to disengage from the eyes 18 and 21, thus releasing the upper glider portion for free ilight.

It may be noted that the Wedge-shaped, attened end 23 of the launching stick 22 is an important part of this invention. This flattened end or fin is necessary to proper flight of the glider during launching, for it has been found that during the towing operation the vertical stabilizer 13 of the upper glider portion, when the glider veers from one side to another retards the rearward part of the glider, causing the glider assembly to nose sidewardly and downwardly. The flattened end 23 preferably is made of a larger plane area than the corresponding area of the Vertical stabilizer, thus compensating for the stabilizer and maintaining a steady and even ight.

While there is herein shown and described the preferred embodiment of the invention, it is nevertheless to be understood that minor changes may be made there- 4 t in without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed is:

In a glider assembly, an upper component capable of free flight including an elongated fuselage, a wing and vertical and horizontal tail stabilizers; a lower component including an elongated rigid launching stick positioned immediately beneath and parallel to the fuselage of said upper glider structure, said launching stick having a dependent planar 1in at the forward end thereof, the area of said fin being greater than the area of said vertical tail stabilizer; a towing cord ixedly attached to said launching stick; and spaced means for connecting said upper and lower components when said glider assembly is being launched and own, the said connecting means including a pair of rings on one component and a pair of pins on the other component, the said pins being of the same length whereby both ends of the upper component will be simultaneously released by movement due to the Weight of the lower component when tension is released on the towing cord.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,228,697 Emmick Ian. 14, 1941 2,522,422 Wolf Sept. 12, 1950 2,669,403 McKay Feb. 16, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 644,951 Germany May 18, 1937 646,388 Germany June 12, 1937 

